'To my butt dimple: I wanted you to disappear, but I will no longer hide you.'

A bodybuilder has penned an open letter to the butt dimple she says had a “hugely negative” impact on her life.

Victoria D’Ariano, an athlete and mental health advocate from Ontario, Canada, has posted about her struggle with body image and her journey towards self acceptance on Instagram.

Addressing her butt dimple, she says it appeared when she was 15 years old and made her “feel fat, but also unworthy”.

A post shared by victoriadariano (@victoriadariano) on May 21, 2017 at 9:06am PDT

“You have always had an impact on what I chose to wear. I would avoid certain bikinis, and even some of my favorite leggings. I would never feel confident in a bikini because I thought everyone was staring at you.

“I would never wear my favorite leggings because again I always thought people were starting at you. Long shirts were my go-to as it was a way I could cover you up and have a moment of peace within my mind as no one would be judging you.”

D’Ariano said she spent “endless hours” looking at her butt dimple in the mirror and would cry in embarrassment because her friends didn’t have one.

“I would exercise extra hard in hopes you would go away. I would eat better also in hopes you would go away. I even considered cellulite treatments so you would finally just go away. You never did, you still haven’t,” she wrote.

“You took a lot of joy away from me, you caused a lot of stress for me, you made me insecure and took away my confidence. I could never feel in shape as you were always there.”

However, D’Ariano has finally stopped letting her butt dimple win.

“You will no longer make me feel unworthy, not good enough or not in shape because of you,” she writes.

A post shared by victoriadariano (@victoriadariano) on May 24, 2017 at 8:58am PDT

“I will no longer be afraid to wear certain bathing suits or leggings because of you. I will no longer hide you. You are what you are and I have finally come to peace with that. I have finally accepted you.”

Looking back, D’Ariano wishes she hadn’t let something so superficial impact her life like that, but at the time she couldn’t help it.

The original post has already received over 27,000 likes and many people have commented, thanking D’Ariano for her honesty and sharing their own stories.

Should women stop the post-baby-bikini shots? Post continues…

“I really needed to see a post like this,” one person wrote. “This is my biggest insecurity in the world and I swear it seems like no one else has this problem. Thank you SO much for this, seriously!”

“Love this. I could have written this post myself, only that it’s taken me 25 years to accept my bum dimples! Thanks for keeping things real,” added another.

“I’m 15 and I have cellulite. I still feel a little bit insecure about showing my body in a bikini and I feel exactly what you felt when you were a teen. This helps a lot.”

What do you think of Victoria’s body positive message?